Upscale Dallas taqueria flees its Mockingbird Station perch for new digs

Dallas taqueria flees its Mockingbird Station perch for new digs

After a ground-breaking 10 years in its current location at trendy Mockingbird Station, upscale taqueria Urban Taco is seizing the opportunity to move into a larger space.

The restaurant will close on August 31, when its lease expires. It will re-open in a new and larger space by mid-September, exact date TBD. So that is possibly as much as three weeks without tacos at Mockingbird Station.

Urban Taco was ahead of the pack when it opened in 2007 with its gourmet take on tacos, incorporating the traditional foods and distinctive flavors of Mexican taquerias. The menu is divided into categories such as salsas, ceviches, quesos, guacamoles, ensaladas, sopas, and, of course, tacos. Founder Markus Pineyro visits his native Mexico several times a year to fold in new trends influencing Mexican food and culture.

The new address is Suite 105, which is on the ground-level space in front of the Angelika theater and just to the right of Mezze, the Mediterranean restaurant that opened in June. Urban Taco's new space has an additional 600 square feet in the interior and includes a 1,000-square-foot patio.

Mockingbird Station has had a rocky history, with closures such as Margarita Ranch, Herrera's, Rockfish Grill, and the chic Vapiano, where Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom now resides. But Urban Taco is one of the center's success stories.

"Mockingbird Station has proven to be a successful location for us," Pineyro says in a release. "After 10 years in business, we felt it was perfect timing to gain more square footage and add a patio but stay in the same area."

There's a second, also-successful Urban Taco location that opened in Uptown Dallas on McKinney Avenue in 2010.

Pineyro partnered with John Tuma to found Del Sur Restaurant Group in 2009. They also own Hook Line & Sinker and Hookline, a new seafood restaurant with a Gulf Coast low country menu that will open in Plano in the fall.